不可解なぼくのすべてを・FukaBoku Vol. 3 ♀♂

I love the fact that we managed to get to the pride chapter during pride month :smiley: :rainbow_flag:

I’m sooo curious about what’s going to happen with Koto next chapter, it’s taking a lot of self control to stick to the schedule this week :sweat_smile:

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Same here! I want to know what happens next.
I’ve been hoping Koto’s character would develop more, and it looks like thats about to happen.

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I’m impressed. I already failed at self control and finished the series :eyes:

Yes, I’m also under the impression that “LGBT” is much more common than LGBTQIA+ or other variations in Japan. Take that with the caveat that I have been basically living under a rock for the past 8 years, so that might not be the case anymore.
Just googling a bit, I found this page from less than a year ago explaining the term that mentions in the intro that it is starting to get some traction (in Japan, I guess)

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Week 5 - Chapter 16

Start Date: June 26th
Previous Week: Week 4 - Chapter 15
Next: Week 6 - Chapter 17
Home Thread: Link

Participation Status Poll
If you’ve read it before but will join in the discussion (or have read ahead), please select “I’m reading along”!

  • I’m reading along
  • I’m dropping out
  • I’m planning to catch up later

0 voters

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Next Volume Polls
(anonymous)

One week break between volumes?
  • Yes
  • No

0 voters

Speed?
  • 1 chapter/week
  • 2 chapters/week

0 voters

I’m in awe I really like how the author portrays Koto’s feelings and struggles and how the way she decided to deal with them in the past had a huge impact in Mogumo. But also the art. I think I have said this like 20 times, but this just so beautiful. The “angel” scene alone was amazing.

I really want to read on but I also like reading it weekly with you guys!

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The angel scene was so gorgeous! Also there’s something about the closeup on Mogumo’s face on page 122 that’s just stunning to me…the art is just amazing in this series.

Also, I’m glad Mogumo stood up to Koto about not wanting to be treated as a girl by Koto anymore. And now that Koto has reevaluated her relationship with Mogumo, I hope they’ll be able to move forward in a healthy manner…

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I also really liked that scene. So, it seems Koto won’t be a villain after all.


It seems that this time it’s unanimous vote for speeding up. If anyone still needs a slower pace or a break, please speak up/vote now :slight_smile:

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2 chapters a week is likely to be difficult for me as I’m still a very slow reader, but not impossible!
I don’t want to hold everybody else up though, so I’m going to try to keep up. :slight_smile:

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Week 6 - Chapter 17

Start Date: July 3rd
Previous Week: Week 5 - Chapter 16
Next: Volume 4 :exclamation:(Starts July 10th) :exclamation:
Home Thread: Link

Participation Status Poll
If you’ve read it before but will join in the discussion (or have read ahead), please select “I’m reading along”!

  • I’m reading along
  • I’m dropping out
  • I’m planning to catch up later

0 voters

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頑張って! :triumph:
There will be one more 1-chapter-week, as 4th volume has an odd number of chapters.


As for this week & volume ending… Will Sakura be one more person to be saved? Because by now I think this series is too good-hearted to have a real villain :upside_down_face:

I really liked this panel

I also have two questions.

  1. Do I understand correctly that the misunderstanding at the beginning of the chapter was coming from the fact that cafe’s people thought that Kotone wants advice about the specific girl (where in fact she was doing a coming out about girls in general)?

  2. This panel, page 149 - I did found しらじらしい in jisho, but I still don’t know which meaning it is in the context.

panel in question

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That was a nice chapter to finish this volume. The reaction faces allround were stellar

Case in point

Also the last panel of this chapter scares the shit out of me. No idea what is coming, but I’m lookign forward to it.

Ohh looks a bit like kyuubey in that panel

That is my understanding aswell.

Even with the more precise J-J definitions I still can’t pick a solid answer.

J-J
    • [形][文]しらじら・し[シク]
      (1)白く見えるさま。また、はっきりと見えるさま。「―・い月の光」
      「よそにふる物とこそ見め白雪の―・しくも思ほゆるかな」〈重之集〉
      (2)興ざめなさま。「―・い空気が流れる」
      (3)うそであったり、本心でなかったりすることが、見え透いているさま。「―・いお世辞」「―・くうそ八百を並べたてる」
      (4)知っていながら知らないふりをするさま。「―・く初対面のあいさつをする」
      [派生]しらじらしさ[名]

Ok so the best I can come up with is that she thinks Tenmaru is exaggerating his reaction because for the members having someone come out is not as much of a big deal? That would fit with definiton (3) of the J-J dictionary I think. That would also lead nicely into the next panel, but my confidence in that translation is not very high, so take this with a grain of salt!

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Thanks for your help :heart:

You mean Madoka Magica’s Kyuubey? Hmm. I only saw the anime, and all the creepy expressions seem to be from manga. :open_mouth:
And now I can’t unseen the fact that they both have ponytails with different color on the tips.

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Exactly, for me it is the other way around I have only read the manga.

Kyuubey

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I just reread it over (so take mine with a grain of salt too since I haven’t spent time with these characters in a while!) - I think the misunderstanding is more that like, for Kotone it was a dramatic coming out, but for the others it was just an exciting opportunity for 恋バナ and the gay aspect is so normal it doesn’t register as a big deal even though for Kotone it super is. So the goofier ones had to be reminded that for Kotone it’s a big personal step, and they need to listen and appreciate that before launching headfirst into 恋バナ.

And for this part, I think it’s just “bare-faced” in the sense that てんちゃん is totally excited at the prospect of seeing / gossiping about Kotone showing up to the cafe with a partner, and isn’t hiding it at all. So I read it as like a, “settle down / don’t be so eager about it”

Both of which play into Kotone’s next reaction of tearing up in happiness at just how needless her worry was. To her it was this huge step she built up in her head, but her friends at the cafe are 100% unfazed.

That’s just my take though!

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Thank you for another take! :heart:

It was my second interpretation, but I wasn’t convinced, because it felt weird to react that way to someone’s coming out, so I decided they must have thought it wasn’t coming out at all thanks to the lack of plural form in Japanese. But it also seems like a plausible version, that’s why I asked!

I’m not sure the 女の子しか好きになれない part could be misinterpreted as singular though… I feel like the X in Xしか would have to be established as a singular for it to be mistaken as like, “except for (a specific individual of) X”

I think it feeling weird to react that way to a coming out is the joke! And their reactions afterward are about their mistake in reaction (“should we act surprised?”) not their having misunderstood what Kotone was saying. Like, to me I think they didn’t catch that it was a capital-C capital-O Coming Out but they knew she was saying she liked girls.

Like, Tetsu’s “この店だとあんまり珍しくないからな~” is to me an explanation/excuse for the other two’s behavior “it’s 'cuz it’s just not anything out of the ordinary here!” which launches into the brief argument with his sister about how they were both worried about coming out in the past as well (I think).

Either singular or plural, the 女の子 part for Kotone was a HUGE deal, but like, not really relevant or unusual at all by the other two, is what tripped the misunderstanding in reaction I think.

Still just my opinion, but that’s the textual evidence I’m drawing on, if it helps form one’s own opinion!

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end of volume thoughts

I said it last volume but as a repressed-gay character lover, I enjoyed so much Kotone’s storyline! I’m also really glad she was actually confronted when she messed up. Sakura, on the other hand… I don’t trust her at all :mag_right: (I hope I’m wrong though!)
This chapter’s reaction expressions were great, Kyubey-Mogumo and this panel were my favorites.

The cartoony style first and then Mei being annoyed… :100:

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A friend asked me if I could find any information about reactions in Japanese to Utada Hikaru recently coming out as non-binary, and some of the sources I managed to find reminded me of this question from a while back.

One article that functions as a good explainer about LGBT topics with a gay lifestyle magazine editor consulted heavily as a source breaks down four types of セクシュアリティ:

【身体的性】からだの性。生まれながらに定められている性別
【性自認】こころの性。自分がどのような性を自認しているのか
【性表現】ふるまう性。自分が表現したい性
【性的指向】好きになる性。どのような性に恋愛感情や性的感情を抱くか

『トランスジェンダー』は生まれたときに割り当てられた性別が、自身の性自認(こころの性)または性表現(ふるまう性)とは異なることを指します」

So it uses からだの性 as a way to explain assigned gender, and こころの性 as a way to explain gender identity.

A lengthy post written by a non-binary person about it and negative or ignorant reactions seen online, has this this part in the midst of explaining ノンバイナリー:

ぼくは “女性” の身体を持って生まれたけれど、生まれてから一度も自分を “女性” だと思ったことはない。でも、だからといって “男性” になりたいと思ったこともない。

So there’s a similar construction there (but with scare quotes undercutting it a bit).

Not conclusive, by any means! But I thought it was interesting since I don’t remember any of us coming to any kind of conclusion (and I’ve felt a little weird about it in manga recap pages too).

My impression from this is that it’s a messy area like it is in English, but I think the 体/心 pair might fit at least a bit better (and less offensively) than body/mind does in English (or at least be an even more tempting easy way to explain it), because they’re more of a direct paired set, and because of the extra connotations of 心. Like, mind+heart+core+self vs. body, feels a bit better as a distinction to me than just “their body’s X but they think they’re Y” for example.

I presume also though of course, that in pieces where they didn’t feel like they had to explain these concepts to a general audience, using phrases like 生まれたときに割り当てられた性別, 性自認 and 性表現 without using 体/心 at all would be even more preferred.

Ultimately just speculating based on limited sources though!

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Thank you, that was an interesting read! And it reminded me of this project outinjapan.com where members of the LGBTQ community talk about their coming out experiences. So I read through some of those stories again and found at least a few trans people (probably around half of those whose entries I read) who used phrases like

「身体は女だけど、心は男」としての自分。(*)

私は体の性を心の性に近づける為に医療の力をかりて変えている最中。(*)

そんな母に自分の心は男なんです、と言うのはとても親不孝だと思いました、今でもそう思って生きています。(*)

to talk about their experiences. So I’m under the same impression that the phrase seems to be viewed more positively by the community than its English counterpart.

Agreed, the extra connotations of 心 give the phrase a different vibe than just using ‘mind’ alone.

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